Was athletic director for 31 years at Stout until his retirement in 1969. In the early years, his duties were divided between administration and coaching. He found success in both fields. As basketball coach, his teams won conference titles and playoff berths at the national basketball tournament at Kansas City in 1942 and 1943. As football coach, his team won the conference title in 1941. In 1965, he was appointed to a two-year term on the Governor's Committee for Physical Fitness. He was responsible for overseeing the completion of Stout's fieldhouse --- later named Johnson Fieldhouse in his honor. Completed in 1963, it is considered one of the finest facilities of its kind. Johnson, who now resides in Red Wing, Minn., is a member of the NAIA Hall of Fame. He served as NAIA District 14 chairman from 1952 to 1960 and area chairman from 1956 to 1960. He was named to receive the NAIA National Award of Merit in 1967 for his long service to athletics and that organization. Johnson was posthumously inducted into the WIAC Hall of Fame in 2012, the first year the Hall existed.
A plaque mounted in the UW-Stout Sports and Fitness Center recognizing Johnson reads:
Ray C. Johnson, the architect of UW-Stout’s modern-day athletic program, served the university for 30 years as its athletic director. A tribute to his leadership, philosophy and ideals is embodied in the naming of the gymnasium area of the Health and Physical Education Center in his honor.
Many colleagues best remember Mr. Johnson for his efforts during the 1960s to oversee every aspect of “phy ed” center planning and construction. He was at the site daily as the building went up brick by brick.
Mr. Johnson, who came to Stout in 1938, successfully coached basketball and football besides administering the athletic program. He won conference championships in both sports. His basketball teams in 1941 and 1942 won national tournament bids. He had similar success early in his career while coaching high school teams in Montana and Minnesota. His 1933 Red Wing Central high school team won the state championship and he was named Minnesota’s coach of the year.
Born March 30, 1903, in Duluth, Minn., he was reared in Moorhead, Minn., where he attended the state teacher’s college, earning two degrees while coaching several sports during his undergraduate years. He received a master’s degree from Columbia University.
Among his many honors was the appointment by Wisconsin Governor Warren P. Knowles to a state committee on sports and physical fitness. Following his retirement in 1969, the NAIA named him to the organization’s Hall of Fame. Mr. Johnson also received the NAIA’s award of merit for his eight years as district chairman, 10 years as a member of the executive committee and four years as area chairman. He was inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978 and was inducted into the WIAC Hall of Fame in 2012. A lifetime of achievement was acknowledged by the NAIA award which read: “For outstanding, unselfish service to intercollegiate athletics and for the support of the highest in ethical standards, idealism and skill in sports.”
Mr. Johnson, who always considered his family as his partners in his work, died August 12, 1988.
Ray C. Johnson WIAC Hall of Fame biography reads:
Ray C. Johnson was the athletics director for 31 years at UW-Stout until his retirement in 1969. In the early years, his duties were divided between administration and coaching, and he found success in both fields. As men’s basketball coach, his teams won conference titles and earned playoff berths to the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City in 1942 and 1943. As football coach, his team won the conference title in 1941. In 1965, Johnson was appointed to a two-year term on the Governor's Committee for Physical Fitness.
He was responsible for overseeing the completion of UW-Stout's fieldhouse – later named Johnson Fieldhouse in his honor. Johnson, a 1976 inductee into the NAIA District 14 Hall of Fame, served as NAIA District 14 chairman from 1952-60 and area chairman from 1956-60. He received the NAIA National Award of Merit in 1967 for his long service to athletics and that organization.
Johnson received an undergraduate degree from Moorhead State Teachers College (Minn.) and a master’s degree from Columbia University (N.Y.).
Johnson passed away in 1988.
